Do NOT Buy Monster Cables!

This is the biggest scam in the home theater world. For instance Monster is selling Nintendo Wii component cables for $60 which is double what Nintendo charges for the official cables and up to six times what you can expect to pay for third party cables. Mind you the Wii only displays 480p. There is no possible way that there is a $50 difference in the quality of video between my $10 cables and Monster's $60 ones. I doubt most people could even tell the difference between the two.

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Lets all buy only EMI's tunes

clipped from www.engadget.com

EMI will now be available on iTunes DRM free! This is the first hammer coming down on the Belrin wall or DRM. Steve got the ball rolling but a major record company actually following through is amazing.

Go NPR!!!

NPR is fighting the RIAA's attempts to raise royalties through an internet rate increase.

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Would you like a police state with that?

Police in this country are out of control! People should not be afraid of police. There was a time when police were supposed to protect and serve the people, not themselves or the government.

clipped from www.boingboing.net

Take a picture in Miami, go to jail

Miller said that in the next instant, he was surrounded by the officers. One attempted to trip kick him to fall to the ground, but he was concerned about his expensive camera equipment, so he tried not to fall on his face. He heard one officer say “He’s resisting arrest!”

Miller tried to explain he wasn’t, but he’d lost his negotiating leverage a few minutes back. He went down hard on one knee. The officers planted (Miller said slammed) his face into the concrete and twisted his wrists and arms behind him to the point of pain.

“They were treating me like I was uncontrollable, a meth addict or something,” he said. “I tried to explain, but one of them said, ‘If you don’t shut up, I’m going to tase you.’”

Miller, at last, shut up.

What does nationality matter?

Since when does the nationality of a college students matter even if he is depressed ands threatens that he has a bomb??? This is how the media continually feeds the flames of racism and bigotry.

clipped from www.cnn.com

Police: Depressed student said he had bomb, anthrax

ROLLA, Missouri (AP) -- Nearly two dozen people were being decontaminated Tuesday after a white, powdery substance was found on a student who claimed to have a bomb and threatened "terrorist-type" actions at the University of Missouri-Rolla, officials said.

The man, described as a graduate student depressed about his grades, also claimed to have anthrax, according to police. School officials said "possible bomb materials" were found when he was taken into custody.

The man's identity and nationality were not released, though school spokesman Lance Feyh said he was an international student.

Quote of the day

"Stop buying products that serve any other master than you." Joel Johnson



This was in reference to an article he wrote for Gizmodo (link) about how what a joke consumer electronics are. The is a perfect description of DRM riddled products such as Microsoft's Plays for Sure, and Apple's Fairplay (which Steve Jobs want to gets rid of but Hollywood has a gun bazooka held to his head). If I legally purchase an album or a movie of of the intertubes I should be able to do whatever the hell I want with it. But no, the music industry and Hollywood stooges get to tell what I'm allowed to do with MY property. I purchased the product, not rented it. Anyway, as that went way off topic, read the article I linked to earlier.

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Scary Stuff! aka Bush is trying to get into your pants

I saw this blog today on Gizmodo (the best tech blog on the planet). It says that Hitachi has developed RFID chips that that call "powder" because they are so damn small! This makes the future of any type of personal privacy seem bleak! Remember: Nobody has more motivation to lie than your government. That's my favorite quote that I invented.

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Eben Ice Caves

Me, Mel, Sven, Missie, and Dewitt went to the ice caves in Eben this weekend. It was a great day for it! It was all of our first time going except for Sven. The walk was pretty easy. We brought snowshoes but didn't need them as the trail was packed down and more like a road. I brought my new Garmin Forerunner 305 sans heart rate monitor. It worked great and didn't lose reception once even being in my jacket pocket for the most part. I hope me and Mel get out and do some more fun stuff outside this winter. I'm looking forward to the Porkies in a couple weeks.

RIAA tries (pitifully) to spin Steve Jobs' blast at DRM

It seems that the RIAA can not read very well. Maybe they should either turn down their corrupted music or get lawyers that read more than just Latin legal jargon. Steve Jobs unequivocally announced yesterday that he wants to see the END of DRM. Not a swtich to everybody relying on the same corrupted music format; the END! The RIAA ASSumed that he meant that everybody should switch to Fairplay which the RIAA would welcome with open arms. If Apple got together with all the tech companies out their couldn't they just crush the RIAA.



In related news, I've heard rumors that a bunch of idie artists and labels are going to join forces to take on the RIAA. Back in the 20's there was a broadcast radio monopoly which required smaller companies joining together to end the monopoly. I really hope this works because many indie artists want their music shared freely without being laden with DRM.

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CFL's: Taking Too Many People to Change a Lightbulb

I don't understand why it is taking so long for people to switch over to Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs in their homes. I know it took me long enough, mostly because I'm lazy. Now that I have made the switch I am not only excited to see the energy savings but I actually feel better about myself a a person. Switching to CFLs is THE easiest way for the average American to make a difference in our energy consumption. Here really why I don't understand why people are not swarming to the stores to buy CFL's: THEY SAVE YOU MONEY!!!!!!!!! I read somewhere that Adobe spent $11,000 outfitting their headquarters with CFL's and they calculated a savings of $100,000 per year!!!! I think the problem is that Americans are obsessed with instant gratification. They want their savings RIGHT NOW! We don't want to spend an extra $3 on a light bulb unless it saves us at least $3 immediately. I think we need more aggressive marketing to 'edumacate' people on the NUMEROUS benefits to switching over "from the dark side."

UPDATE: I just realized that the picture comparing CFL's and incandescents is quite outdated CFL's cost much less nowadays (I paid $7 for a three pack of GE CFL's in Dec. of 2006). I'll look for a new one and post it when found.